Talked with a local fisheries biologist this week. What he told me is not what I wanted to hear but after additional research online, it seems consistent. Given the expense of this project, we will be patient and follow the expert's advise. Here it is:
1. After completing the pond (Operation Goat Pond), lime it, disc it in, then plant it with browntop millet for the summer. We are building this pond at the worst possible time for fish stocking, so we will delay filling the pond (stream fed)until the Fall.
2. Filling the pond this Summer will allow the native creek-fed fish to flourish and overtake the pond. Before filling the pond, we will kill native fish in the creek with Rotenone.
3. Stock with Bream in the Fall/Winter then follow up with LMB later in the Spring. 10:1 Bream to LMB ratio/acre. (3:1 bluegill to shellcracker) Bream1000/acre; LMB 100/acre; CC 100/acre.
We were on track to stock this month w/ Bream & CC and LMB in the Fall - just the opposite of what we should be doing.
This advice is backed up with more than 40 yrs of research and very consistent with dept of natural resources and academic institutions' published research. Their's not a lot of guesswork to be done. It seems there is a formula for establishing a new pond for optimal recreational fishing that impacts the life of the pond.
Sources:
* South Carolina Fish Pond Management Guide - has an excellent glossary of terms.
* Farm Fish Pond Management - SCDNR
* Gen Hayes - SC fisheries biologist (ret.)
